Fire
by stonedtoad
Summary: When fire burns. Dedicated to red shirt guys who make sci fi so much easier to write.


TITLE:-Fire  
  
AUTHOR:- stonedtoad  
  
EMAIL:- leapfrogjb@hotmail.com  
  
CONTENT WARNINGS:-None  
  
SUMMARY:-(Word of month inspired- "Fire")  
  
DISCLAIMER:- Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.  
  
Thanks Two lots of thanks, firstly to LE McMurray for betaing as ever and secondly to the random airman who make stories so much easier to write. To red shirt guys everywhere, this story is for you.  
  
Fire  
  
Hot, too hot to move, too hot to think...I know I need to fight it but I can't remember why, and I can't focus on why as the darkness approaches me once more.  
  
Words in the background, swirling around me in a muddled haze, all lost in the confusion of my mind as it fights the tempting darkness. I force my eyes open, but the light is blinding and my brain shuts down in blessed relief as the darkness comes to comfort my abused eyes.  
  
I hurried to the side of the bed as a faint movement indicated that the airman was waking up finally. His eyes flickered open but the light I'd left above his head was directly in his eyes and he relaxed back into unconsciousness. Dammit, I'd only left his side for a second, so many injured needed my help but I'd wanted to make sure no-one woke alone. The virus that had affected the base was serious, and those affected had been dangerously ill. The airman was not the first to wake, and each had woken up in a state of confusion, fear at not knowing where they were or why.  
  
It had all started with SG11's return from an uninhabited world where they had been completing a routine survey. As soon as they returned through the Stargate they had all collapsed unconscious to the floor, followed by those who had hurried to assist them. She sighed with relief at the quick mind of Colonel O'Neill; - within seconds he had ordered the level sealed off and contamination gear for the medical team before they were allowed to the downed team. Unfortunately this did not assist the soldiers on alert in the Gate room or the Colonel and the rest of the control staff. The contaminant was airborne so once trapped in the Gate and control room the air- conditioning was able to contain the contaminant (god bless paranoid designers of this base).  
  
It had been found out that the virus was only problematic when mixed with the air on our side of the gate- a reaction to some cleaning product would be my guess. Who would have thought so much trouble would come from having a clean base! A groan from behind me dragged me from my musing and back to the problem in hand. The affected airmen had all been unconscious for several days and their internal systems had been fluctuating wildly, heartbeat, respiration and core temp all affected. This had slowed over time and now all were simply displaying severe symptoms of good old earth flu, complicated by the fact that their immune systems had been compromised.  
  
I sighed as I was dragged back to the problem in hand; - the sickbay was just not equipped to deal with this number of casualties. Now I was back to the age old dilemma of triage, who least needed to be here, who could be moved to their quarters to the care of their own unit members, most of which had basic medical training. (I had early on realised the SGC was no ordinary posting and one medic in a unit just wasn't enough).  
  
So that would leave me with...  
  
An hour later the less ill had been shipped out to their colleagues care with strict instructions to follow. That still left all the control staff, Colonel O'Neill and Dr Jackson. Yes, both my favourite patients were under my care. Sam and Teal'c were off world visiting their respective families, but these two had me worried in any case. They weren't responding well to treatments, - I guess their immune systems were still down from the radiation they picked up after that damn skull fiasco. I knew for a fact they both carried emotional scars from that as well...not that either would talk to me, a mere friend and medic!  
  
So here I was, 3 in the morning, been up for longer than I cared to remember and listening to groans all around me. Not one of my better days. A faint "Janet" had me swinging back around to the bed behind me. "Daniel, welcome back to the real world! You had me worried for a while." Still did if that expression on his face was how he was feeling. "Am okay" he mumbled. "How's everyone else doing?"  
  
I had to smile at that. That's why Danny and Jack were my two favourite patients; their first question was always for someone else. It gave me reassurance in the human spirit, something that I increasingly needed these days.  
  
"You're all doing okay Daniel, SG11 are in their own quarters now. Only the control staff and you and Jack who didn't have unit members to look after you." I had to smile at his confused look. "Basically you guys got a mutated virus; the after effects now are basically flu. You and Jack took it worse as your immune systems are still shaky after that crystal skull episode." "Jack!" he sat up quickly and flumped back due to the mother of all head rushes. "Slowly Daniel, you've been out of things for a good few days." I couldn't help smiling at him; he looked all of 12 years old, "Look, Jack is in the bed opposite so I could keep an eye on everyone. When he wakes up I'll get one of the nurses to help me move the beds around."  
  
"He hasn't woken up yet?" Oops Janet, that told him more than you wanted to, still, put it down to over tiredness and move on. "He'll be fine Daniel, you all will once you get a bit more rest," I stood stiffly and picked up a sedative, which I injected into his IV, "Now sleep. Doctor's orders."  
  
I heard a soft chuckle behind me and spun round to find sleepy brown eyes watching us both. "Sleep well Danny, catch you later." I have to confess extreme amusement when Dr Jackson fell back asleep with his mouth open, presumably framing a comment he never got to make. "Welcome back Colonel, you had me worried," And then some, but that I kept to myself, he didn't need to know how sick he'd been again, "Now are you going to go to sleep by yourself or..." Judging by the look of horror he pasted across his face for my benefit he knew exactly what I had in mind, "Away with the needles Janet, I'll sleep like a good boy, for now."  
  
And he did. The man never ceases to amaze me, just when you expect him to get up and push himself beyond his limit one more time he lets himself heal. I was still musing on this when I someone touched my shoulder. Okay, I jumped a mile and heard Jack snigger as well. So the man knew General Hammond was back. The sneaky little...  
  
And tired as I was I was so grateful I nearly cried. "Doctor Fraiser, you've been on duty far too long. I've arranged for Doctor Warner to take over in here and we have an on call locum from the hospital if we need him. Go home."  
  
Okay, I know I'm a strong woman, but in the infirmary I have to be the boss, hold everything together no matter what. It's nice to be able to let go and remember that someone outranks you on days like these. And yes I did hug him, but he laughed so I guess its okay. After all, we've been in situations like these far too often to have the ordinary rank relationships. So we all acted like family, - in this job you needed to. It wasn't all dark cloaks and gun and daggers, but the daily stuff, you can't tell a mother why her son will never come home again, a child why Daddy can't come and tuck her in. But we did have one another. And so it worked, you could get people to care for each other when push came to shove, not out of orders and duty but because they were willing to, to go the extra step and beyond.  
  
And that's why I loved this job so much. Even when the fire burns. 


End file.
